California Attorney General Rob Bonta speaks to reporters at a press conference after opening statements took place in the Meta trial over a lawsuit brought by U.S. states about social media addiction, at the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Oakland, Calif., on Aug. 18.
Godofredo A. Vasquez/AFP via Getty Images
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The social media company Meta and states suing it have agreed to settle a landmark federal child safety lawsuit in a move that state attorneys general hope will be a turning point for youth safety on social media platforms.
California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey represented a larger consortium of states that alleged in the suit that Meta designed its apps — Facebook and Instagram — to be addictive to kids and knew about the risks those platforms posed, but hid that information from the public.
In addition to claims that Meta broke state consumer protection laws, the states accused Meta of violating the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act by collecting data about children under the age of 13. Meta has a policy of not allowing kids under 13 on its platforms, but some skirt the rule by registering with false birth dates.
The settlement requires Meta to pay up to $17 billion in penalties to the states over 10 years and to make significant changes to how its platforms operate so that they are safer for minors.
"Today, we have secured a settlement with Meta that will make social media less dangerous for our kids and make a world of a difference for children and their families," California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement.
"Meta has agreed to make massive transformations that will reduce the risk of harm from its platforms — and will do it within months," he added.
Meta's chief legal officer, C.J. Mahoney, said in a statement that the framework was groundbreaking and "will empower parents to easily manage how their children access our platforms."
"But its success depends on all other social media platforms following Meta's lead," he said, making an explicit call for TikTok and YouTube to implement this same framework.
Representatives from Google (which owns YouTube), TikTok and Snap, which the settlement identified alongside the others as a "core" member of the industry, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Meta has denied the allegations brought by the states.
Bonta's office also said Meta had agreed to make changes to its platforms, including a default time limit of two hours for users under 18 and a nighttime block between midnight and 6 a.m., both of which can be lifted only by a parent; default night and schooltime notification blocks; a ban on displaying the number of "likes" or reactions to posts made by minors; a ban on cosmetic surgery image filters for minors; and an option for young users to have a "non-personalized feed" that is not run by an algorithm targeting them with content.
Meta must also bring on an independent auditor with "expansive access to information and resources" and the right to communicate with the attorneys general, the announcement said, and would also be subject to an injunction "prohibiting it from making further false, misleading, or deceptive statements around its safety features."
"I am proud to deliver this settlement that addresses the concerns at the core of our lawsuit and institutes real change, real transparency, and real enforceable protections for children on Facebook and Instagram — right now, no more waiting," Bonta wrote.
